


Dog Diggity Darn

by Inches_Apart



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Eddie just moved in next door, Friends to Lovers, M/M, Neighbors AU, Richie's real gay, Slow Burn, Yikes, a bit of violence later, and with increasingly worse writing, lots of swearing, now with some dog, school au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-03-11
Packaged: 2019-03-18 04:40:04
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,641
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13674441
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inches_Apart/pseuds/Inches_Apart
Summary: To say Richie was merely infatuated with Eddie when the Kaspbraks moved in next door would be an understatement.Richie was head-over-heels in love with him.





	1. The New Kid

**Author's Note:**

> But wait, aren't I writing like seven other things right now?  
> Yes.  
> But here's this anyway.

To say Richie was merely infatuated with Eddie when the Kaspbraks moved in next door would be an understatement.

Richie was head-over-heels in love with him.

At the time, Richie was almost done with eighth grade and was starting to question whether or not he was into dudes. One look at his neatly combed, nicely dressed, fanny-pack wearing, tiny-shorts clad neighbor erased all doubt or question Richie had. He was as gay as the fucking rainbow. But not just any old gay, no. Gay for one, Eddie Kaspbrak- his adorable and tiny neighbor. 

When Richie got to school the next day, his friends noticed the difference immediately. 

“What’s up with you today, Richie? You look like a Disney princess.” Stan was giving him a look that seemed like it was uncaring, but after years of being around him, Richie knew it was full of hidden, genuine curiosity. 

“If I’m a princess then I’ve just met my prince, Stanley. I’m like Cinderella at the ball, having just caught a small glance at Prince Charming.” Richie sighed, dreamily.

“Sounds like Richie’s in love,” Beverly cooed as Ben let out a heartfelt “aww” next to her. Ben was always a sucker for romance.

“You got that right, Bevvie. In fact, it was love at first sight.”

Ben perked up, leaning in closer to Richie. “What happened? Tell me!”

“Well, there I was, Benny Boy, just dicking around outside of my house, as usual, when this car pulls up at the empty house next door. Turns out, it’s the new neighbors.”

Ben squealed with excitement. “You’re in love with the girl next door!”

“Not quite, Benny. You see, at first, I didn’t give two shits about whoever the fuck moved in next door. It seemed like just a simple family of two: mother and child. I was right about to go back to doing whatever the fuck I was doing when I saw it: short brown hair, warm dark eyes, a freckled face full of constellations, a salmon polo shirt paired with the most ridiculous pair of rainbow shorts and the cleanest white Keds you’ve ever seen! This boy was hands down-”

“Boy?” Stan, who was pretending not to listen to Richie’s story of love, raised an eyebrow in sudden interest. 

“Yes, ‘boy,’ Stanley. I’m gay, now stop interrupting me.”

Stan thought about that information for a second, then simply shrugged and went back to looking at his bird book.

“Now, where was I?”

“You were talking about when you first saw him.” Ben reminded him, eyes wide and eager to hear the rest of the story. 

“Right! This kid, Ben, is shorter than you. I’m talking he’s like a teacup sized person that you could fit in your pocket and just carry him around.”

Beverly snorted. “Oh my god, Richie, why don’t you just marry the kid.”   


“If I could, Beverly, I would without a second thought. This kid is practically an angel sent from heaven.”

Ben smiled so hard his dimples were nearly the size of craters. “What’s he like?”

Richie faltered and awkwardly scratched the back of his neck. “I- I don’t know. I didn’t get a chance to talk to him.”

Ben’s smiled dimmed a bit. “Do you at least know his name?”

“Uhhhhhh.”

Stan sighed next to him. “Oh my god, Richie.”

Richie was saved from further embarrassment or questions by the bell ringing, signaling the start of First Period. 

Slouching down low in his seat, Richie was ready to spend the next fifty minutes ignoring whatever his incompetent science teacher was going to say. He had already tuned him out almost completely when the words “new student” caught his attention. 

Richie sat up straight so quickly his knee banged the desk, startling the girl sitting next to him. He heard Stan snicker, but he didn’t care. He hardly thought about it, but his new neighbor would be in the same school district as him, meaning he would be attending the same school as Richie since he was about the same age. But what were the odds they were sharing the same science class? Richie was ecstatic. 

His science teacher just finished his standard introductory speech of “let’s be nice to the new kid” when the door creaked open. Richie felt his heart beat faster as he saw him.

He looked the same as he did yesterday, with the exception of his polo shirt being a light baby blue and his shorts were swapped for a clean pair of khaki slacks. He glanced around the class nervously as the school counselor ushered him into the room and gave him a piece of paper that presumably had his schedule printed on it. The kid stood there awkwardly, unsure of what to do and face starting to flush pink as every set of eyes in the class turned to stare at him. He offered everyone a small wave and uncomfortable smile. Richie’s heart felt like it was doing backflips.

“Why don’t you introduce yourself to the class?” The science teacher prompted the new kid, clearly not giving a single damn about anything going on.

“Umm,” the kid swallowed hard, “my name’s Eddie Kaspbrak, and my mom and I just moved here from Oregon yesterday.” He gave another small wave to the class.

Richie slumped forward in his seat, resting his head in his hands as he looked at Eddie in a daze. “Eddie. What a cute name.” He sighed happily as Stan and Beverly burst out into muffled giggles behind him. 

Their science teacher sighed in exhaustion. “Why don’t you just take a seat wherever. I really don’t care.” 

Richie and Eddie both scanned the room, trying to locate all the empty seats. There was one in the front of the room near the door, two in the back corner on the opposite side of the room as Richie, and one located two seats ahead of Richie and one row to the left- the perfect place for Richie to stare at him dreamily during class instead of paying attention. Richie willed Eddie to pick that seat. He clearly didn’t have mind control powers though because Eddie quickly shuffled to one of the seats in the back, face still pink. 

Richie slouched back down in his seat again with a groan. Behind him in the back was the one place where Richie couldn’t look at him throughout class without looking like a total creep. 

“Tough luck, Tozier,” Stan smirked. Richie flipped him the bird under his seat so their teacher wouldn’t see it as he started class. 

_ Dammit.  _

At least he now knew his name. And who knows? Maybe someday soon their teacher will let the class switch seats.

In the meantime, Richie would just have to settle for doodling Eddie’s name in the margins of his notebook with hearts around them. 

\----

By the time lunch rolled around, Richie began to felt cheated.

The boy of his dreams was so close to him, yet at the same time, so far away. With half of the day gone, Richie still only had one class with Eddie. Not to mention the fact that Richie was ready to ditch his friends after science and go introduce himself to Eddie. It would be under the guise of helping him get around school better since he probably had no idea where he was going so it would be seen as a kind and genuine action, and not weird. Before he could make his move though, he saw Bill Denbrough had already beaten him to it. He even overheard that the two of them had the same Second and Fourth Period together as well. 

Of course, Bill wasn’t trying to steal Richie’s man. He knew that. Bill was just a genuinely kind and caring individual who wanted to help his new classmate know where to go and know that he would be welcomed at his new school. Richie still felt jealous as he watched Eddie and Bill stroll into the cafeteria together, talking cheerfully as they got into the lunch line.

Richie sighed. He knew he and Bill didn’t have the same Fourth Period together, so his only hope for having another class with Eddie would be during their Fifth and Sixth Period. For his Fifth Period, Richie had advanced mathematics, so he didn’t feel like it was likely they would be sharing that class. But Sixth was standard history, so maybe he had a chance there.

Stan sat down next to Richie, following his longing gaze to where Eddie and Bill were heading to a lunch table on the opposite side of the cafeteria. Stan pinched the bridge of his nose in mock annoyance as he tried to hide his smile. “You are absolutely ridiculous, Richie. Why don’t you just go over there and talk to him?”

“Because,” Richie mumbled miserably, not actually having a good excuse.

“You should leave him a flower taped to his locker with a love letter signed by a secret admirer,” Ben said, believing with every ounce of his being that there was hope for Richie and his crush.

Richie perked up a bit at Ben’s idea, before slumping back down in defeat. “I don’t know where his locker is.”

“Whose locker?” Beverly asked, sitting down at the table next to Ben. 

“The love of Richie’s life,” Stan said, once again trying to pretend he didn’t think lovesick Richie was the funniest thing he’s ever seen.

“Oh,” Beverly said, with a small smirk. 

Richie knew that look. “You know something. Tell me now.” He demanded, intently staring at Bev.

“Well, I don’t know where his locker is, but let’s just say a little birdy told me he has history Sixth Period.” Beverly smiled at him as Richie silently thanked every god out there. 

“Beverly, you are the best. I love you so much, I could kiss you.”

“I thought you were gay now?”

“Doesn’t matter. Thank you, Bev.”

For the rest of lunch, Richie smiled happily to himself as he occasionally threw glances over his shoulder to look at Eddie Kaspbrak from across the cafeteria.

\----

By the time Fifth Period ended, Richie already had a plan formed. 

He knew that his history teacher didn’t care where kids sat and that most kids continued to sit in the same seat every day anyway. This left the class with the same three empty seat in the same place every day, all located in the middle back. Richie’s foolproof plan involved him moving to sit in the middle empty seat, leaving Eddie’s only seating options on either side of him. Sure, Eddie could take Richie’s old seat, but that was located in the front of the room and was surrounded by people on every side. Eddie, being the awkward new kid he was, was sure to take one of the two empty seats in the back instead of taking the one in a sea of people he didn’t know. 

Richie smiled to himself as he rushed from his math class to the history classroom down the hall. His middle school didn’t have any passing time between classes, so most kids were already in the room and in their seats by the time Richie got there. His eyes landed on the three empty seats in the back and he confidently made his way to the back. He plopped his bag down on the ground in triumph and awaited the arrival of his sweet Prince Eddie.

Eddie was the last to arrive and based on his red face and slightly disheveled hair, Richie guessed he probably had Physical Education Fifth Period. 

Richie secretly glanced at Eddie through the corner of his eye, watching him locate every empty seat and decide which one would be his best option. Richie tried especially hard not to look at him, because if Eddie saw someone creepily watching him from across the room, he would have taken Richie’s old seat, as far away from said person as possible, without a second thought.

Without looking up from the notebook Richie was pretending to write notes in, he heard Eddie approach and sit down at the desk on his right. Richie cheered internally in success. 

After glancing over to make sure that his history teacher was still taking attendance and not caring about what her students were doing, Richie turned to Eddie with a smile.

“Hi!” Richie said and his mind instantly started screaming at him. He sounded too happy, too excited, too cheerful. He needed to stay casual or else he’d scare Eddie off forever and it’d be game over. “My name’s Richie.” His voice sounded more neutral. Better. “You’re Eddie, right? The new kid?” A perfect blend of beforehand knowledge mixed with simple curiosity to assure Eddie he knew who he was, but wasn’t stalking him. It was a friendly gesture, showing him that he wanted to be his friend. This was going amazingly.

Eddie stared at him for a second, face unreadable and eyes narrowed. At last, he said, “Aren’t you the kid who keeps staring at me all the time?”

_ Red Alert: abort the mission, I repeat, abort the mission. _

“Uh,” Richie was speechless. He was sure if his friends were here, Stan and Beverly would be on the floor, howling with laughter. Even Ben would have known it was all over. 

_ Come in mission control - Operation Whoo Kaspbrak is a fail. I repeat, Operation Whoo Kaspbrak is a fail. Over. _

Eddie sat up a little bit, looking at Richie’s notebook. “Why are you just randomly scribbling lines in your notebook?”

Richie slammed the cover of his notebook closed, face burning red. 

_ Fuck. _

He wasn’t supposed to see that when pretending to write notes and look casual, all Richie had done in reality was just scribble a bunch all over the page. He needed to save this.

“Lemme explain,” Richie started, “I-”

“Tozier!” Their history teacher cut Richie off. “Shut it and pay attention. Class is starting.”

Sighing in defeat, Richie slumped down in his seat, red with embarrassment. He didn’t even glance Eddie’s direction the entire period.


	2. A Change of Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoop, here it is. Chapter 2.
> 
> Warning: Some language, violence, talk of blood and injuries.

Weeks pass and Richie still felt like a complete loser.

No matter what he said or did to try and get on Eddie’s good side, it seemed like the small boy always had some snarky comment or embarrassing piece of trivia about Richie to shut him down. He even knew that Richie ate trash last year on a dare and threw up all over the basketball court during gym. How did he know that? Richie had no fucking clue. It wasn’t helping his situation though.

Eddie walked into Sixth Period and sat down in the seat next to Richie. Even though he refused to speak to him, at least Eddie wasn’t sitting in Richie’s old seat away from him. Sitting next to him gave him more opportunities to try and befriend the small boy.

“Hi, Eddie, how was your day?” Richie tried to sound as happy and genuine as he could but it didn’t matter. He still saw Eddie rolling his eyes as he busied himself with flipping his notebook open to a clean page.

After a moment when it was clear Eddie wasn’t going to respond, Richie just continued talking like he had. “Well, I’m glad you’re having a good day. My day’s been going pretty well, thanks for asking. Nervous about the end of the year tests coming up?” 

Eddie didn’t respond, and wouldn’t have been able to as class started. 

Richie stared at the side of Eddie’s face with a frown. He scribbled a small note on his notebook and quietly ripped it out. Folding up the paper, Richie tossed it onto Eddie’s desk when the teacher turned her back. Through the corner of his eye, he saw Eddie sweep the scrap of paper off his desk without so much as a glance at it. 

Pretending to cough, Richie subtly nudged his pencil off his own desk. Bending over, he grabbed his own pencil as well as the scrap of paper, which he threw back onto Eddie’s desk.

Richie shamelessly watched Eddie as the other boy picked up the piece of paper and dropped it on the floor on the other side of his desk - out of Richie’s reach.

The taller boy sighed, slumping in his seat. He seemed to do that a lot, he realized. Probably wasn’t good for his posture. Richie was already tall enough as it was, who cared if he slouched three inches down all the time.

Time passed slowly, and Richie didn’t hear more than two sentences of what his teacher said throughout the entire period. He didn’t really care much about it though. All of his attention was focused on wondering why Eddie wouldn’t even give Richie a chance at being friends. He wasn’t  _ that _ bad of a guy. Sure, everyone called him Trashmouth, but it was better than being called a coward for backing down on a dare to eat trash. Regardless, he liked to think of himself as a kind and loyal individual, even if he could be a  _ bit _ of a prick sometimes. But it’s not like he was malicious. He just enjoying joking and jabbing his friends. It was all in good fun.

Richie hardly even noticed the bell ring at the end of class, signaling the close of the school day. He watched all his other classmates hustle out of the room, eager to get the fuck out of the hellhole that was their place of public education. He glanced over at Eddie, who always waited until after the bell rang to start packing up so he didn’t have to fight people trying to get out of the door. 

“Are you ever gonna give me a chance?” Richie asked Eddie. 

The other boy didn’t look at him. He just continued to pack up his bag. Right before Richie decided he was never going to answer his question, Eddie spoke up. “Why do you want me to?”

Knowing that confessing his undying love for Eddie right then and there was nowhere even close to a good idea, Richie altered the truth around so he had a somewhat acceptable answer. “I think you look like a really interesting person and I want to get to know you better.” The fewer and simpler words, the better it would probably be for Richie.

Eddie wasn’t having it though. “That’s a lame excuse.” He slung his backpack over his shoulders and started to walk out of the room. Richie grabbed his few belongings and hurried after Eddie.

“What do you mean ‘lame excuse?’ I was being genuine!”

“Wanting to get to know someone better isn’t a viable excuse for constantly watching a person. It’s kind of creepy.”

“What do you mean ‘constantly watch?’ When have I ever?”

Eddie walked up to his locker and Richie made a mental note of its number. “When I first moved in next door to you, all you did the entire time we unpacked the car was stand in the middle of the sidewalk and stare at me.”

Richie flushed. He hadn’t even realized Eddie knew he was his neighbor. Nor did he even remember staring at Eddie that much when he first moved in next door. Or how noticeable  _ that _ staring was. He was sure he was subtle every other time. 

Eddie closed his locker. By this point, the hallways were almost completely deserted except for the two of them. “You also try to stare at me during science, and you seem to be pretty shameless about starting at me during lunch.”

Richie weighed his options and decided he should probably just give in. “Okay, so  _ maybe _ I stare at you every now and then, but what’s wrong with that? Sure, it may be creepy, but that must mean you stare at me too to notice it.”

Richie figured it was flawed logic, but he noticed Eddie’s face and neck flush pink and figured maybe he hit a bit close to home. “I do  _ not _ stare at you.” He sounded defensive. 

“Oh my god, you totally do.” Richie’s jaw dropped and he felt his eyes widen to what must have been comical proportions when magnified by his glasses. 

“Why would I stare at you? Why do you even stare at me so much?” Eddie’s face was now cherry red. Richie was sure he would have laughed if he wasn’t too busy being shocked and feeling slightly giddy. 

Maybe he did actually have a chance with Eddie if he was staring at Richie like Richie was him. He hasn’t felt this excited since he first laid eyes on Eddie. 

Eddie scoffed, trying to hide his embarrassment. “Whatever. It’s Friday, and I’m tired. I’m going home.” He turned and started walking away.

Richie perked up, grinning playfully. “Let me walk you ho-”

Eddie cut him off. “I’m walking home alone.” He turned the corner, effectively cutting the conversation off completely. 

Richie stood there, alone in the school hallways on a beautiful Friday afternoon, and smiled to himself like a damn fucking fool. He felt like he had made some progress today in getting Eddie to open up to him. He would let the smaller boy walk home alone, spend the weekend thinking over their conversation (and thinking of him), and maybe he would actually talk to Richie Monday during history. His heart fluttered and Richie had to physically restrain himself from squealing like a six-year-old girl. Today was a good day. 

He strolled back up the hallway towards his own locker to grab the few things he’d need over the weekend, whistling cheerfully to himself. He shuffled his belongings around, shaking his hips as he did so, and spun away from his locker, kicking its door shut as he did. Continuing to whistle to himself, he headed towards the school’s front entrance, ready to get out and enjoy his weekend. 

Richie took a deep breath of air as he walked outside. The sun was out, the sky was filled with the right amount of fluffy white clouds, the flowers were blooming, and the birds were singing. He’s not sure he’s ever seen anything more beautiful than this wonderful spring day.

Oh, wait. He has seen something more beautiful.  _ Someone _ more beautiful. And his name was Eddie Kaspbrak, and he just might be opening up a bit to Richie.

Smiling to himself, Richie damn near skipped over to the bike rack to grab his ride so he could get home. When he got closer to the rack though, that’s when he heard him.

Henry Bowers.

“Aw, look. The little fag’s about to cry. What’s the matter, queer? Where’s your boyfriend to protect you now?” 

There was no mistaking that sick, cruel, and sneering sound of Henry’s voice. Richie even heard his goons laughing along with him. 

Richie’s heart went out to the poor kid that landed in Henry’s crosshairs. He knows that he’s definitely wound up there more times than he could count. Nearly every kid in his grade has. Frankly, he was surprise Henry hasn’t been expelled from school yet. It seemed like since his father was the police chief, every teacher decided to give Henry infinite warnings. Everyone knew two things to be true about Butch Bowers: He abused his son, and he abused his power as a police officer. Everyone was scared of him, and no one felt safe in Derry with him in charge of anything. 

Knowing teachers wouldn’t do anything to help the kid since they always looked the other way in any situation involving Henry, Richie figured the best thing for him to do would be to not get involved and to get the fuck out of there as soon as possible. Everyone fell victim to Henry- Richie could get his ass beat later or he could get involved and get his ass beat now  _ and _ later, and he much preferred the option that would hurt less. 

Fumbling to undo his bike lock as quickly as possible, he couldn’t help but overhear the poor kid who was Henry’s current punching bag speak up.

“Please,” his voice was weak, laced with fear and pain, and Richie recognized it instantly. How could he not?

It was the voice of Eddie Kaspbrak.

Richie’s body froze.

Eddie was being beaten up by Henry, and Richie was just about to leave him to fend for himself, just like the prick Eddie probably thought Richie was. It wasn’t too late though. He could still do something, even at the cost of himself. 

Eddie was worth any injury Henry might inflict on him.

Hyping himself up, Richie dropped his bag and forced his body to move around the corner of the school to face Eddie, four older, larger, stronger students, and his fate. 

Henry had Eddie by the front of his shirt and was pressing him up against the brick wall of the school. There was a nasty looking bruise forming under Eddie’s right eye, and blood was trickling down from his nose. He looked like he was trying not to cry, and Richie’s heart cried out in pain at the sight. Henry’s goons, Patrick, Belch, and Victor, stood around Henry, laughing at Eddie and encouraging Henry to hit him again. Richie needed to do something quickly.

Looking around, Richie noticed an abandoned aluminum can. Grabbing it, he chucked it at the back of Henry’s head as hard as he could. The can was much harder to throw than he expected, so despite his dead-on accuracy, the can made contact with Henry’s head with a light  _ tink _ and tumbled to the ground weakly.

Not Richie’s best idea, but it got Henry’s focus off of Eddie.

“Hey fuck face!” Richie shouted, giving Henry the bird as he tried not to let his voice shake too much. It wasn’t his best insult, but under the circumstances, not the worst Richie’s come up with. 

Henry turned to Richie, his glare filled with pure hatred and violence. He dropped Eddie, who landed on the ground with a weak whimper. Henry stalked forward, slowly savoring the look of fear that took over Richie’s face as he realized what he’s done. 

He just challenged a high schooler and his three brute friends to a fight that he was destined to lose. Fuck, if he tried to fight all four of them, Richie was gonna die. He had no doubt that they could easily kill him. 

Richie fucked up. 

So, Richie did the only reasonable thing he could come up with: he started running like hell. 

He took off in the opposite direction, feet flying across the pavement as he desperately urged his body to go faster, faster, _ faster _ . For a moment, he was worried that Henry would just let Richie run and go back to beating up Eddie, but it wasn’t long before he heard the thunderous herd of footsteps behind him, and it wasn’t long until he realized they were gaining on him. 

He seriously fucked up. 

Richie wasn’t sure where he was running, and he was running out of time to come up with a plan to get away from them. He ran to the back of the school where the unkempt field and crumbling basketball court the school called a ‘playground’ was. This also just so happened to be a dead end for Richie. The entire area was surrounded by an old and rusty chain link fence that was taller than Richie. His only hope to get away would be to climb it.

As soon as he got within four feet of the fence, he threw himself at it, desperately trying to climb it as quickly as he could. A sharp, rusty part of the fence dug into Richie’s palm and sliced his hand open. He winced at the pain but ultimately ignored it as he continued to haul his ass up the fence. In the end, it didn’t matter.

His hand had reached the top of the fence right as Henry reached him. The older boy grabbed the back of Richie’s shirt and yanked him backward. 

Richie fell to the beat up asphalt of the basketball court. First landing on his foot awkwardly, then tipping over and letting his head make contact with the ground with a sickening  _ thunk _ ! 

His vision was blurry and swimming, and it took Richie a second to realize he was seeing the former because his glasses had been knocked off of his face during the fall. He saw their blurry outline a foot away from him. Stupidly, he reached out to grab them.

As soon as his hand came in contact with the expensive piece of glass and wire, Patrick Hockstetter’s combat boot came down on top of his hand, forcing it to crush the glasses underneath it. Richie hissed in pain as he felt a few shards of glass embed themselves in his palm. 

He didn’t have time to worry about his hand though, as Henry’s foot connected forcefully with the small of Richie’s back. Pain erupted and radiated up his spine, making his mind go fuzzy.

He felt Henry forcefully grab his shoulder and roll him over so his back pressed painfully into the rough surface of the asphalt. The older boy then got down to straddle Richie’s midsection. He grabbed the front of Richie’s shirt, lifting his head up off the ground only to spike it back down. 

Richie swears he blacked out for a second, but he wasn’t sure. He was definitely sure that all he could hear was an obnoxious ringing in his ears. 

Henry leaned his face down close to Richie’s and snarled something. He could only assume it was something as nasty as Henry’s breath, but he couldn’t make out a word of what he said. He blinked in pained and dazed confusion and was soon introduced to Henry’s fist once again. This time, Richie could taste the metallic flavor of blood in his mouth as his teeth came down on his tongue. Frankly, he was surprised he didn’t bite a piece of it off.

After the crummy third and fourth date Richie’s face had with Henry’s fist, Richie was sure he was going to black out or die soon. Based off how badly his body, more specifically his head, was hurting, he was leaning a bit more towards the latter. 

Right as the blackness that had crept into Richie’s vision was about to cover up the last bit of light, he felt Henry get off of him. 

Confused, he laid there, trying to blink the spots from his sight. When enough of it had cleared, he saw what he could only assume to be a teacher standing at the back exit of the school, speaking animatedly at Henry and his friends. He had no idea what he was saying, but soon enough, the Bowers gang set off, following the person back inside the school. 

_ Oh cool,  _ Richie thought dimly,  _ I’m not dead. _

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there, unmoving on the pavement. Soon enough though, he saw a figure hesitantly step into Richie’s line of sight.

For the most part, said person looked like a blob of color to Richie, but he was able to make out brown hair, a pastel colored polo shirt, and a blur of brown coloring across this person’s face. Was it eyes or freckles? Richie knew it was both as he finally recognized the person.

“Ayyyyyy, it’s Eddie.” Richie’s voice was weak and sounded dead as he slurred the few words. He squinted up Eddie and saw what he thought was a look of concern, but to be honest, he had no fucking clue.

Eddie looked down at Richie and mouthed something that he couldn’t make out. Actually, he probably said something instead of mouthing words, but the ringing in his head still was all Richie could hear. 

Richie smacked his lips together, grossed out by the taste of blood that plagued his mouth. He turned his head slightly and tried to spit some of it out, but just ended up getting bloody spit all over the side of his face.

In his dazed state, Richie wasn’t sure how to best flirt with his crush, but at the moment, he was positive he was nailing it.

Eddie’s face scrunched up slightly, probably in disgust, but Richie found that he didn’t care. He just realized he felt really tired. 

“I’m gonna take a nap,” Richie said, or rather shouted. His eyes slipped shut, and his head lolled to the side. 

A faint and repetitive tap against the side of his face caused Richie to snap his eyes back up. He jerkily sat up, his body and head painfully protesting the movement. He vaguely heard Eddie shout something at him about not going to sleep.

_ He’s right, _ Richie’s mind dumbly chided him,  _ napping in front of your crush is rude. Might as well invite him to nap with you. _

Genius. 

“C’mon here, Eds,” Richie grumbled, sticking his arms out and making a grabbing motion with his hands. “Come nap with me.”

Eddie shook his head, instead electing to grab Richie’s arms and haul him up to his feet.

The second Richie put weight on his right foot, it burst into pain and he cried out. Eddie grabbed his shoulder to keep him from falling over as he quickly yanked his foot up off the ground.

“Holy fucking shit, that hurt!” Richie shouted, tears starting to form in his eyes. 

“Richie are you okay?” He could now hear Eddie’s voice better, and the concern in it was clear as day.

Richie gritted his teeth and pressed his eyes shut.  “Fuck, I think I landed on it wrong. It hurts like hell.” 

“It’s possible you broke it,” Eddie looked worried. “What else?”

“My head. It’s like Satan used it as his own personal punching bag.” Richie felt the back of his throat tighten and he nearly gagged. “I think I’m also going to be sick.” 

Eddie’s look of concern went from a Level Ten to a Level Fifty in a matter of seconds. “Christ. I think you might have a concussion."

“A concussion? You sound like a doctor!” Richie cackled, making the mistake of moving his body too much and feeling pain radiate throughout his body. “Ow, everything hurts.”

“Okay, we need to get you to a real doctor. Can you walk?’

“I think I can limp.” Richie hesitantly shuffled his body forward, favoring his good leg. Eddie ducked under Richie’s arm, acting as a crutch for him. The pair shuffled ten feet forward when Richie’s vision tilted and he was hit with an intense, dizzy wave of nausea. “Oh no.” He stopped, and Eddie moved out from under his arm to glance at him, concerned.

Richie couldn’t help it- he puked. Not only that, but he puked right on his and Eddie’s legs and feet. Richie’s jeans may survive, but their shoes, especially Eddie’s white Keds, and Eddie’s clean khakis would, unfortunately, not share the same fate as the dark, denim pants. 

It was dead silent between the two of them. Eddie was in complete shock.

“Whoa, Trashmouth strikes again.” Richie giggles, disgusted by just throwing up, and also finding the coincidence hilarious. “Get it, Eds? Because I threw up on the basketball court last time?” Richie wheezed with laughter. Eddie stared at him like he’d gone insane. May he had. Who knows what repeated head-bashing from good ole Henry Bowers could do to a person. 

Eddie shook his leg, face twisted in disgust. “Fucking gross.”

Richie giggled. His head was still spinning and he tried not to puke again. “Sorry. That was an accident.”

“It’s fine,” Eddie sighed heavily. “Let’s just never mention this again.”

“Agreed.” Richie nodded his head solemnly, trying to wipe the smile off his face. He's sure his future self would be absolutely mortified later, but at the moment, he found that he didn't care in the slightest.

“Come on. Let’s get you home.” Eddie moved back under Richie’s arm, bearing a good amount of his weight.

The two slowly made their way back towards the front of the school. They were almost off campus by the time Richie remembered his bag and his bike that he left behind when he took off to try and outrun Henry. Eddie helped Richie sit down on a stone bench before running off to quickly grab his stuff.

“I have an idea,” Eddie said, walking up with Richie’s bike and bag. 

“Huh?” Richie was nearly asleep again. 

The shorter boy scowled at him. “Stop that, Richie, don’t fall asleep.”

Richie slumped down the bench, body flaring up in pain again as he did so. “I’m not doing it on purpose!”

“Whatever.” Eddie rolled his eyes. “At the rate we’re moving, it’ll be freshman year before we get you home. So, if you sit on your bike, I can push it and we can get you back at a relatively decent time.”

Richie slowly tried to stand up. “If I don’t have to move, I’m all for it. My ankle fucking hurts.” He glanced down at his foot. “Also, it’s starting to swell. That’s probably not good.”

Eddie glanced at Richie’s ankle and saw that he was right. He grimaced at the sight. “Let’s go.”

It was a struggle trying to get Richie situated on the bike comfortably. His bad ankle was a difficult roadblock to deal with since he needed someplace to rest it without directly putting pressure on his foot, so the pedals weren’t an option. It ended up with Richie draping his bad leg over the handlebar, which Eddie grabbed hold of to push the bike backward. 

The bike wobbled and nearly tipped over as it started to move. Richie gripped the handlebar with his finger over Eddie’s hands tightly and stared at him, wide-eyed. He didn’t even think about how he was basically holding Eddie’s hands. “If you drop me, I may die.”

Eddie rolled his eyes at him. “No, you won’t. Stop being so dramatic.”

“I don’t know. You seemed pretty certain I was going to die earlier.”

Richie watched as the other boy struggled to come up with a retort. “To be fair, you already looked like you were dead.”

He snorted. “I probably you be if you hadn’t come. Or rather that teacher did. How did you get a teacher to come out? Most times they don’t care about Bowers picking on other kids, especially after school hours.”

Eddie was silent for a moment, focused on pushing the bike carefully. At last, he whispered quietly, “... I might have told him there was a drug deal going on.”

“Eddie?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s fucking genius.” Richie was so struck by the awe of Eddie’s ingenious plan that he couldn’t help but let the next few words slip out of his mouth. “I love you.”

The shorter boy looked down at the handlebars of the bike, face coloring slowly. “You’re concussed.”

He laughed. “Maybe.” He closed his eyes for a second.

The sun was still out and it felt nice on his face. A breeze blew by the two boys, gently ruffling the new leaves of the tree lining the streets. Richie swears that if he tried, he could probably hear the sound of children’s laughter in the air. Despite getting the shit beaten out of him, he’d still consider today a wonderful day. 

“You’re not going to fall asleep on me, are you? Cause if you fall off, get this, you may die.”

Richie cracked an eye open to look at Eddie. Without his glasses, everything was still pretty blurry, but he swears he saw a smirk on his lips.  “For your information, Edward, I was not sleeping. I was enjoying this beautiful day.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “Sure, Richard. Sure.” 

A moment of silence passed between the two. Then Richie spoke up, “Can you be honest with me real quick: why didn’t you give me a chance?”

“What do you mean?” Eddie asked, confused.

“I mean, when you first moved here, I wanted to talk to you and you kind of shut me down.”

He thought about it for a second before replying, “To be fair, every time I glanced your direction you were staring at me like I had a second head. It was creepy.” 

Richie winced. “Okay, so  _ maybe _ I stare at you a  _ bit _ much. That doesn’t mean you should just shut me down completely. You gotta give a guy a chance.”

“Aren’t I doing that now?”

“Yeah,  _ after _ I nearly died saving you from Bowers.” 

Eddie studied Richie carefully. “Why did you save me?”

Caught slightly off guard, Richie said the first thing that came to mind. “Because I felt like getting concussed by Henry”

The other boy sighed heavily. “For real, Richie.” 

When he thought about it, Richie didn’t actually have a real reason. He just figured he’d rather get beat up than Eddie. He doubted the other boy would go for an excuse as lame as that. 

In his panic, the truth slipped out. “Because I- I like you.”

Eddie faltered and nearly tipped Richie off the bike. It looked like his mind was going a mile a minute. “You like me?”

Richie recovered from his near death experience, face flushed. “Uh. Yeah, maybe a bit.”

He still looked perplexed. “Why do you like me though?”

“I don’t know.” Richie shrugged awkwardly. “I mean, you’re fucking adorable so that’s one thing.”

Eddie flushed red. “That’s not valid. I was kind of a jerk.”

Rolling his eyes, Richie sighed. “Yeah, well I was kind of a creep.”

“I guess that's fair.” The other boy didn't sound convinced though.

Turning the bike carefully, Eddie started down his and Richie’s street. Richie couldn’t look over his shoulder to look at his house, but he’s sure if he could, he’d see the driveway was empty and his parents weren’t home. He glanced at Eddie, who seemed lost in thought. Richie tried to study his face, but it was too blurry for him to make out anything.

“That’s not everything though,” Richie spoke up, interrupting Eddie’s thoughts.

“What’s that?” 

“That’s not the only reason I like you.”

Eddie looked skeptical. “What other reason do you have?”

Richie paused for a moment, thinking about how to phrase his thoughts. He had never been too good with genuine words. “You seem like a real person. Like you’re not afraid to be yourself. I think that’s really respectable."

He didn’t respond right away. Instead, Eddie pondered Richie’s words for a moment. When he spoke up, he sounded sad. 

“That’s really kind of you to say, Richie, but I have to disagree. I’m not fearless. Sometimes, I'm absolutely terrified to be myself.”

Richie hummed thoughtfully. “Well, you seem pretty brave to me, Eddie.” He gave the other boy a reassuring smile.

Eddie ducked his head down to avoid looking at him. “Thanks, Rich.” 

He slowed the bike down in the driveway of Richie’s house, and Richie saw that it was, in fact, empty. He sighed. “Well, that’s just great.”

“Are your parents not home?” Eddie sounded perturbed. 

“No. They never are.” Richie carefully set his good leg down on the ground and stepped off the bike. His head hurt and his vision swam. Eddie grabbed his shoulder to stabilize him. “If you could help me just get inside I can wait for them to get home.”

Eddie gasped in shock. “I am  _ not _ just going to leave you like this. That’s almost cruel.” 

Richie just shrugged and started to hobble up to his front door. “I’m not sure what you’re planning on doing, Eds, but you’re not exactly a doctor.” 

He scoffed. “I can’t fix your concussion or your ankle, sure, but I still know basic first aid. And you’re covered in blood.” 

Unlocking his front door, Richie glanced down and saw that his shirt did have some blood on it. Probably from his hand. He also didn’t need a mirror to tell that his face probably looked seriously rough. “Fine. Come on in.”

Eddie followed Richie into the house, looking around curiously at the interior. “For someone who’s known for eating trash, your house is a lot nicer than I expected.” 

Richie flopped down carefully on the couch and propped his bad leg up. “Firstly, eating trash was a one time dare that happened  _ last year _ . I don’t know who told you I just  _ eat _ trash but they’re a fucking liar. Secondly, my mom decorates the house, not me. That’s why it looks nice.”

The smaller boy shrugged. “Stan never said it was a dare. He just said you ate trash and threw up during Phys Ed.” 

Richie sighed to himself. “Stan, that motherfucker. Why did he even tell you that?”

“We have P.E. together and I noticed he hung out with you so I asked him what your deal was.”

“And he said it was eating trash?”

“No. He just said you’re a complete idiot. Eating trash was an example of that.”

Groaning, Richie leaned his back. “That does sound like something Stan would say.”

Eddie looked at Richie carefully. “He also said you’re a good person at heart, and now I see that that’s true as well.” 

Richie propped himself up on his elbows to look at the other boy. “Really?”

Eddie nodded.

Laying back down, Richie smiled to himself. Stan wasn’t too shabby of a wingman he supposed. 

Eddie asked about where to find first aid supplies, and after some direction from Richie, he returned with a small red box, a bottle of alcohol, and a wet washcloth. Starting with his face, Eddie carefully wiped away the blood. As soon as his face was clean enough for the other boy’s liking, Eddie moved to cleaning his wounds. Richie’s arms had a few miscellaneous scrapes, but the worst was his hands. Eddie frowned at the cut from the fence and the few shards of glass still embedded in his palm. 

Grabbing a pair of tweezers, he warned Richie, “This probably isn’t going to feel too good.”  

It was a slow a meticulous process of getting all the shards out, but it wasn’t as bad as Richie expected. That was until Eddie dumped a bit of alcohol on his hands to sterilize them. 

“Holy fuck!” Richie yanked his hands out of Eddie’s grasp, flailing them wildly to ease the pain as much as he could. 

Eddie grabbed one of his wrists. “Stop that. They need to be cleaned so they don’t get infected, you moron.” Grabbing a roll of gauze, Eddie carefully wrapped his hands. “There. The only thing that hasn’t been taken care of now is your ankle, which you’re going to need a doctor for.” 

Richie tapped his temple. “What about the concussion?”

He shrugged. “Just rest and don’t do anything too straining for your brain.”

“That’s lame.”

“Well, I don’t know what you expected.”

“Something cooler than ‘rest.’ Like a lobotomy.”

“Why would you need a lobotomy for a concussion?”

“I don’t fucking know.”

“You’re a moron.”   


“You love me anyway.”

“No, I don’t.”

“You will one day.”

“If I were you, I wouldn’t hold my breath.”

“We’ll see. I’m quite irresistible, you know.”

“Sure you are, Trashbreath.”

“Trashbreath? Well, that’s a new one.”

Eddie rolled his eyes. “I need to get home. My mom’s probably about ready to call the police to report me missing.”

Richie laughed. “She worry about you much?”

“That’s an understatement.” Eddie sighed heavily.

“Well, Eds, I’d probably be dead without you, so thanks.” Richie nodded his head at him in gratitude.

Eddie shrugged off the gesture. “Thank you for saving me from Henry.”

“Anytime. Except please don’t make me do this often.”

“I’m not planning on it.” Eddie smiled at him. “Take care of yourself, Richie.”

Richie smiled back at him. “I will. Talk to you on Monday?”

Eddie laughed. “Sure. Bye, Rich.” 

Richie watched Eddie leave, smiling to himself. Maybe he did have a shot after all. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed please leave a comment! I would very much appreciate it.
> 
> Also, feel free to hit me up at https://the-barrens-are-ours.tumblr.com/


	3. Every Dog Has Its Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oof, this chapter is super rough and I'm not too pleased with it but I'm more displeased with the fact that the last chapter came out like a month ago. Whoops.
> 
> Anyways, this whole story was inspired by a Tumblr post I made forever ago and that's now more clearly coming into play now. Also, hopefully, this story's title makes a bit more sense now. Given, it's still not the greatest title, but this also isn't the greatest story so y'all probably aren't too let down anyways. 
> 
> Without any further delay, here's chapter three

“You got me a dog?”

Richie tried to keep the disbelief out of his voice but it was damn near impossible to do. 

School had just ended three days ago, and even though a month had passed since Richie’s beating from Henry Bowers, his ankle was still in a cast. It had been broken from his fall, but it was only a bit more than a hairline fracture. His hand that had been sliced opened climbing the fence had needed a few stitches, but all of his cuts were pretty much healed by now. His concussion was even gone. Richie had spent the last few weeks of school looking forward to a summer of rest, but this was not what he had in mind.

“We think you having a dog would be good for you," Wentworth Tozier looked at Richie briefly before turning back to his newspaper. "It’ll teach you responsibility.”

“Plus,” Maggie Tozier looked at her son with a forced smile, “isn’t he cute?”

Richie glanced at the puppy his mother held. It was a tiny black dog with white paws, white tipped tail, and a white stripe down the middle of its face, around its neck, and down its belly. It had deep brown eyes and was practically smiling at Richie with its perked ears, wagging tail, and lolling tongue. Richie did have to admit it was a cute dog. 

He also knew exactly what his parents were up to. It was their ingenious plan to give him something to do all summer long that wasn’t bothering them to go places and do things. Wentworth and Maggie preferred to go off and do their own thing, and taking care of a kid was not included in the agenda of any book club or poker party his parents attended. By giving Richie a dog to train and look after, they had freed themselves of having to spend time with their son over the summer since he’d no longer be busy with school work. It was a clever plan, but Richie would have been fine with an Xbox. Though, he supposes a dog still beats being sent to a Christian summer camp again. 

“So what’s his name?” Richie asked his parents, scratching the small dog behind one of its ears. 

Maggie shoved the dog at Richie, getting him to take it from her, and wiped her hands on her pants as if the dog was dirty. “We decided you should get to name him since he’s going to be yours!” Maggie’s voice had a fake excitement to it that made Richie want to roll his eyes. “And remember, since he’s your responsibility you can’t expect us to take care of him for you.”

"Wouldn't want to burden you guys with a dog," Richie mumbled to himself. He rubbed the small dog's head and it wiggled excitedly in his arms.

Wentworth folded up his newspaper, throwing it down on the table. “Your mother and I are going out for the day," he declared. "If he has any accidents inside, you’re in charge of cleaning up after him. If he chews on anything he’s not supposed to eat, replacements are coming out of your allowance. Do I make myself clear?” 

Richie scowled, looking down at the dog so he wouldn’t have to face his dad. Figures that the first chance they got his parents were going to leave him alone. “Yes, sir,” Richie mumbled. 

Maggie brushed Richie’s hair in forced affection and followed Wentworth out of the kitchen. Moments later, he heard the front door slam shut and lock. He was all alone with a dog he didn’t ask for. 

"Bye guys. Love you." Richie whispered to himself. His parents could have at least had the decency to pretend they were sad to leave their only child home alone all day.

Richie set the puppy down on the ground gently. It immediately looked up at him expectantly. 

“I don’t know what you want from me," he told the dog. "I can’t offer you much.”  

The puppy responded by sniffing Richie’s dirty cast curiously.

Though the cast was annoying and meant Richie needed to shower with a bag over his foot, he was almost sad that it was getting removed in a few days. He had grown attached to it in a weird way. He’d even gotten his friends to sign it. 

Stan had written his name in straight and orderly print, Beverly in flowery script with two hearts, and Ben in big block letters with a very happy smiley face next to it. Richie’s favorite signature on his cast was Eddie’s though, written in small, neat print.

Eddie had looked very guilty when he saw Richie walk into science early Monday morning after his encounter with Henry. They hadn’t been able to talk First Period because Richie was too busy explaining his tale to his friend, but when they got to history, Eddie apologized to him again for all the trouble. Richie knew Eddie didn’t make him save him from Henry, but he appreciated the concern. He asked Eddie to sign his cast, and the other boy did saying it was the least he could do for him. 

After that day, the two boys, unfortunately, didn’t talk more like Richie had hoped. They exchanged only a few words during history and when they passed each other in the hallway, but they were hardly friends. At least Eddie didn’t dislike Richie anymore. 

Sighing, he glanced at the dog that was wandering about the kitchen. “You like me, right, dog?”

The dog, incapable of speech, merely looked at Richie with wide eyes and yipped in response before walking off again. 

“Thanks,” Richie mumbled. Picking up the small dog, Richie headed outside onto the back patio.

The day was still young, but the sun was out in full and was shining down heavily upon Derry. Since his family hardly did anything together as a family, there wasn’t much to the Tozier’s backyard. Just a cheap table with a set of plastic chairs that were absolutely disgusting, and an old soccer ball from fourth grade sitting in the unmowed lawn.   
Sitting down in the tall grass, Richie set the puppy back down. He watched the small dog totter off, sniffing the yard. 

“What am I supposed to call you?” Richie pondered aloud, looking at the dog. 

The puppy didn’t so much as glance at him in response. It was too busy smelling the fence shared between the Toziers and Kaspbraks. 

Richie chuckled to himself. “Me too, buddy. I, too, wonder what dear Eddie is up to today.”

The dog sat down, tilting its head to the side as it stared at the fence. Richie couldn’t help but let out an involuntary ‘aww’ at the sight. His mom was right- that dog was cute.

Richie sighed, leaning back to lay down. The grass tickled and was extremely uncomfortable since it had burned nearly to a crisp under the harsh summer sun. He supposed they probably should water the lawn, but at the same time, doing so sounded stupid as fuck.

Closing his eyes, Richie let his mind wander as his body relaxed and soaked up the warmth of the sun. Unsurprisingly, his thoughts drifted to Eddie.

Richie had been so sure that after the Bowers incident, the two of them would at least be friends. But now, they were awkward acquaintances at best, and Richie wasn’t exactly sure why. Was he that detestable? Did he do something wrong? 

Well, surely, the best way to make friends is to not throw up on them and then laugh about it (Richie still sometimes woke up in a cold sweat at night, cringing at the thought of that moment. He was so fucking dumb). At the same time though, he felt that he did some respectable things that day and that the two of them had parted on relatively good terms. 

But then again, Richie had admitted that he was practically in love with Eddie, and after creepily staring at him constantly for weeks, that probably didn’t settle well with the other boy. He probably went home and looked up if he could get a restraining order placed on a fourteen-year-old. The only reason it felt like they parted on good terms may have been because Eddie felt bad that he was the reason Richie had the shit beaten out of him. Richie didn’t regret saving Eddie in the slightest, he just wished he understood the other boy’s actions. 

Richie groaned in frustration. Feelings were fucking confusing. 

He wasn’t sure how long he laid there in the grass. Richie must have dozed off at some point because when he opened his eyes again a few clouds now dotted what was once a clear blue sky. 

He sat up slightly dazed. His face was burning hot and Richie felt like it may have gotten sunburned. Groaning, he tried to reorient himself and figure out what was going on. Why was he even outside in the first place?

Oh right. He had a dog now. 

Richie glanced around the yard, trying to locate the small ball of fluff. The grass was a bit tall, but it still shouldn’t have been this hard to find the dog. It couldn’t have gone far in the Tozier’s small backyard.

Standing up and brushing off his pants, Richie took another frantic look around the yard and froze. The dog wasn’t there. 

He had had a dog for less than an hour and had already lost it. He hadn’t even named the dog yet!

“Oh no,” Richie gripped his hair, glancing around the yard desperately. “Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no.”

He tried to think back to the last time he saw the dog. He’d definitely brought it outside with him and closed the back door, so it wasn’t somewhere in the house. The dog started sniffing around the Kaspbrak’s fence when Richie laid and that’s the last time he saw it.

Richie sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. That wasn’t very helpful. So what the dog was sniffing around the fence? It’s not like dogs could climb fences like a cat could so it’s not like it could have gone over the fence. 

But a dog could have dug under it.

Richie went over to the fence, carefully looking down its length to see if the ground around it was disturbed anywhere. He spotted a hole, about ten feet from his house that went right under the fence. A hole Richie knew was not there before. A hole that looked big enough for a small dog to get under. 

That had to be where the dog went- into the Kaspbrak’s yard.

Richie took off back into his house as quick as he could with his casted foot. He unlocked the front door and crossed across his lawn onto the Kaspbrak’s. After awkwardly hobbling up the front porch steps, Richie banged on the front door. 

It took almost a minute, but eventually, the front door opened. Eddie raised an eyebrow at Richie.

“My dog,” Richie panted, more out of breath than he realized. 

“Since when do you have a dog?” 

“Since an hour ago,” Richie explained, “and he dug under the fence and I’m pretty sure he’s in your backyard.” 

Eddie stared at him in slight disbelief. “So you got a dog an hour ago, you already lost him, and you think he’s in my backyard?”

“I mean,” Richie nodded, “yeah.”

The other boy sighed. “I’ll go check. Wait here.”

Eddie closed the door on Richie before he could get another word in. He stood there, looking at the door. 

It seemed like Eddie was right back to being annoyed with Richie again, which he thought was unfair. He hadn’t done anything to him. Frankly, he also had no idea what to do about it either. How do you even get someone who doesn’t want to be around you to like you?

It took a minute, but Eddie eventually opened the door back up. In his arms, he held Richie’s puppy who squirmed around slightly. Eddie’s face had a beaming smile on it. 

Richie sighed in relief at the sight of his dog. “There you are, buddy!”

The dog yipped excitedly and Eddie chuckled, scratching the small canine behind its ear. “Is that his name?”

Richie furrowed his eyebrows. “Is what his name?” 

“Buddy. You said ‘There you are, buddy.’ Is he 'Buddy'?”

Richie debating telling Eddie that he actually didn’t have a name for the dog yet but he already seemed like a bad enough pet owner, he didn’t need any more strikes against him. “Umm, yeah. That’s Buddy. Cute little rascal, ain’t he?” Richie ruffled the dog’s head affectionately and laughed awkwardly.

“He’s so sweet. I wish my mom would let me get a dog. She’s worried that it’d attack me in the middle of the night or that it’d infect me with rabies.”

Richie laughed, but a look at Eddie’s face made him realize that he was dead serious. He cleared his throat. “Sounds pretty strict.”   


“Strict is an understatement,” Eddie snorted, “she makes maximum security look like a vacation.” 

“Yikes,” Richie grimaced. He looked at the other boy and whistled. “Oh la la, Eds, where are you going dressed like that?” He winked.

Eddie rolled his eyes, handing Buddy over to Richie at last. He was wearing a nice collared shirt with the shortest pair of shorts Richie thinks he’s ever seen. It wasn’t anything scandalous or fancy, but Richie still thought the other boy looked nice. He also noticed the faint pink dusting Eddie’s cheeks. “I’m not going anywhere; just down to the Barrens to hang out with Stan and Bill.” 

“Whoa, whoa, whoa, since when do Bill and Stan hang out?” This is the first Richie’s ever heard of his best friend hanging out with Eddie’s. “And since does Stan hang out anywhere without me?”

The other boy rolled his eyes again. “Do you honestly expect Stan’s life to revolve around you?”

“It beats it revolving around bird books.”

Eddie sighed. “I don’t know when they started hanging out together, I just know they do.”

“Unfair!” Richie gasped. “Why are you the only one who gets to enjoy the merging of our two friend groups? Everyone should be invited! There should be a celebration!” 

Buddy yipped in agreement in his hands and Eddie smiled at the small dog. When he looked back at Richie’s face, the smile faded. “Do you really want to go to the Barrens with us that badly?”

“More than anything,” Richie breathed dramatically. 

Eddie was silent for a moment, thinking things over. At last, he sighed again. “Fine. I’ll call Bill and ask if it’s fine for you to come along.”

“And Ben and Bev!” Richie chipped in. “If those two are building a dam, no one would know how to put it together quite like Ben. Plus,” Richie lowered his voice and leaned in towards Eddie, “we all know Beverly’s the strongest out of all of us. It’s shameful, but it’s true.” 

“Fine. I’ll call you and inform you of Bill’s decision. Bye, Rich.” Eddie shut the door.

Despite just having the door of his crush closed in his face, Richie smiled to himself. He felt like he, metaphorically, had a foot in Eddie’s door. He felt he was getting closer to him, that he was beginning to open up to Richie and stop rejecting and ignoring him constantly. And it seemed to all be thanks to his dog digging over into the Kaspbrak’s yard.

Richie looked down at Buddy who merely panted happily. “Man’s best friend?” Richie asked the pup. “More like man’s best wingman. You and I are going to get along nicely, little guy."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, sorry this one was so short. And sucked. I've been busy and just felt really bad about not updating that I rushed to finish this. Hopefully, chapter four doesn't come out a month from now but I can't make any promises. The next chapter will have some more Richie, some more Eddie, some more of Richie's dog (who I lazily named after Buddy Holly because Richie really likes him), and will finally have some Mike Hanlon! Oh man! 
> 
> It will also be tons better, I swear.
> 
> Don't forget to leave a comment or two. They're greatly appreciated. Also, feel free to hit me up on my Tumblr: the-barrens-are-ours
> 
> So, until next time folks, have a good day, and thanks for reading.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed, please leave a comment!
> 
> Thanks for reading, and feel free to hit me up at https://the-barrens-are-ours.tumblr.com/


End file.
